Jack Reacher

[walldude]

That name mean anything to anyone?

I'm usually a Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror and Non-Fiction guy. A few months ago I was in Norway, in a little convenience store that had a few books. I needed something to read but only one book was in English. It was a Lee Child novel, Gone Tomorrow. Now I'm not usually into these tough guy book series but there was a little blurb from Stephen King(my favorite living fiction writer) on the back cover so I grabbed it. Not really much choice anyway.

Well, I have now finished 13 Jack Reacher novels and I'll be damned if they aren't the shit. Reacher is an Ex Military Cop with a brain like Sherlock Holmes and a body like The Rock. Child has a way of making this guy so cool and so righteous that you can't help but love him. His writing style is gripping, enough description so you get a real feel for everything, but not so much that it puts the breaks on the breakneck pace of these stories. I have a problem with writers who spend page after page on technical jargon and descriptions, and Child's sparse style was right up my alley. He keeps the story moving. A couple of them were so good I read them in a single sitting.

Check out this quote from Entertainment weekly, they summed it up better than I ever could:

"Reacher is a modern day Sherlock Holmes with Zen professionalism and logical deductions. He outwits his opponents every time. Then he kills them.


All of the Reacher novels have been optioned for films. I feel sorry for the casting director who has to come up with the right person to play this guy.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. I've just started reading them.

I'm going in sequential order, so I started with "Killing Floor" and am moving on to "Die Trying."

[SheilaT]

2. Someone where I work passed one

of the Jack Reacher novels to me last year. I read it, and promptly read every single one of them. I really, really like them.

[Suich]

3. Did you read "Day 61?"

It's set in S. Dakota and it's really cold!

I just finished it and the ending has me scared!



:hi:

[walldude]

5. You mean 61 hours?

Yep, one of the best... I can't believe he released another one already. 61 just hit Paperback and there is already a new hardcover "Worth Dying for".

I'm finishing up one I missed called "Without Fail" and then going to read the new one.

[Hamlette]

13. 61 Hours is the only one I didn't like.

It made no sense to me (the ending). Maybe I missed something.

Loved the first one I read, One Shot and also Trip Wire.

While they are fun reads, it sort of ends there. The writing is okay but I've never stopped to say "what does that word mean" or "wow, I wanna great that sentence again it was such a great use of language."

That being said, I'm first in line to buy his latest.

(and with a spoiler alert! Read no further if you've not read 61 hours!!!! Why did they even plan to destroy it? They had the bad guy outnumbered, they could have just stolen it. Couldn't they?)

[tortoise1956]

4. Reacher novels are worse than crack AND meth - together...

I discovered him three years ago, and burned my way through the old stuff in about two (mostly sleepless) months. Now I wait for new books to come out in paperback, and debate breaking my ironclad rule about buying hardcovers.

DAMN LEE CHILDS!

[babylonsister]

6. I LOVE Jack Reacher! Lee Childs

can weave a tale all right. Highly recommend people give these novels a go. Fast and fun.

[MaineDem]

7. I've read one of the recent books but now I've gone back to "Killing Floor"

I love this guy!

[walldude]

8. So who do you guys think should play Reacher?

I'm hoping for a good unknown. I can't really think of anyone who is BIG enough but can pull of the intelligence and wisdom.

[tortoise1956]

9. Some candidates (maybe) that are at least 6'4''

Vince Vaughn (if he can do a serious role)
David Morse
Dolph Lundgren (f he can get rid of his accent)
Liam Neeson

Of these, I think Liam is the best fit.

[jobycom]

21. Adam Baldwin, maybe?

6'4", has a military bearing.

[bikebloke]

10. Reading Worth Dying For

The trouble with his earlier novels, was the cover art. The bulls-eye motif made one look like another. I'd grab a book from the library, only realizing once I started that I had read it before.

But it's good popcorn.

[Paladin]

11. "Worth Dying For" Kicks Severe Butt. Just Finished It.

If you ever get a chance to attend a reading/book signing by the author, by all means go. He's this absolutely charming, intelligent British guy; he says he started the Reacher series because he got tired of all the mystery series heroes carrying around all the excess emotional baggage. Great books.......

[getting old in mke]

29. Also

he named him "Reacher" because that's what his (Child's) wife was using him for--reaching things on the top shelf at the store. Lee Child/Jim Grant is tall, like his character.

[Paladin]

12. In Stephen King's "Under The Dome".....

...there's a character named Jack Reacher, a military type. Apparently King is a huge fan......

[mvccd1000]

14. I found it amazing...

... that the author is a British guy who decided he wanted to write American action/adventure-type stories. He does a great job of nailing the speech and idioms of the American version of the language. He gets a few (ok, quite a few) details of US military equipment and small arms wrong, but the stories are so good that it really doesn't matter.

(Anybody here ever "slide across the back seat" of a HMMWV? Not very likely, but it's happened in Reacher stories.) :)

Try to be over 6' tall and even get IN the back seat of one of these, much less scoot over to make room for someone:



I've read all except the last one or two, and they'll be on my Kindle when I unwrap it for Christmas.

[fadedrose]

16. Jack is agile ;) eom

[Paladin]

15. "Worth Dying For": No.1 Fiction Best-Seller In The Country, This Morning. (n/t)

[abluelady]

17. Because of Your Recommendation

I took one out of the library yesterday. Looking forward to meeting Jack.

[Nay]

18. Reacher is the SHITZ. Someone turned me on to the books a couple

of years ago and I also burned through them all fast. I love the guy. I have no idea who the heck will play him in a movie. Liam Neeson is too old, but he's the closest I can come up with. To really reflect the character, the actor has to be physically big in addition to being a decent actor. So, no, I can't think of who could play him.

[matt819]

19. Say no more

Reacher is my absolute favorite series character. The summary in the OP is spot on. Sen, logic, outwit, kill. He travels only with his clothes on his back. When he needs a new pair of underwear, he goes out and buys a pair - one pair. Same with other items of clothing. The earlier books paid some lip service to the practicalities of life - home, personal relationships, money - but no more. He always seems to have money to do whatever it is he need to do. He knows every weapon ever made and can use it without even blinking. And, if you read the books back to back, there are the some typical scenes. At least twice (probably more), he's skulking around the back of a motel, walking carefully to avoid crunching too loudly on the gravel, trying, of course, to avoid a platoon-size group of bad guys who may not know who he is but know that he's bad news.

He's the David Carradine figure in Kung Fu. He's the traveling knight from the middle ages coming to the aid of the damsel in distress. Some of the situations he finds himselt in are truly ridiculous, but somehow you just don't care. It's Jack Reacher, and all will be well in the end.

[latebloomer]

20. yeah, it's so reassuring

No matter what shit gets thrown to him, you know he'll make it out with flying colors. He is such a spectacular character.

My brother gave me "Killing Floor" last year and I devoured every single one of them as soon as I could lay my hands on them. The man can't write fast enough for me.

Just finished "Worth Dying For", and it was great.

The only thing I can't quite figure out was how this was supposed to be a sequel to "61 Hours". With the exception of one or two paragraphs, there was no relationship to the previous story. You can read the the two in any order. OK, he left Reacher in a deadly situation in "61 Hours", but hey, it's Reacher! No doubt that he would survive.

[jobycom]

22. Able to stop bullets with his chest muscle! Can do anything his brother could do, even better.

Can out-think the most trained professional in any field, and of course, steal his woman on top of it! What's not to love?

Yeah, I love the guy, and part of the love is getting to roll my eyes at some of the unbelievable coincidences and unlikely superfeats he performs. When he has a shooting contest with a top marksman and beats him in a fashion that reminds one of Mark Twain's condemnation of James Fennimore Cooper, I'm tempted to view it as farce. And yet, somehow, I can't get enough of the character.

Just good, basic fun, and the writing is not insultingly bad, as a lot of genre fiction is. Definitely a Reacher fan.

[jannyk]

23. Started '61 Hours' in bed last night, though I may have to re-read

the first few chapters again as we had just returned from a friend's birthday party and I'm not sure I absorbed the plot.

This is my second 'Reacher' novel (can't remember the name of the first, but I remember enjoying it). Glad to hear there are 11 more to read!

[getting old in mke]

24. Jack Reacher vs Joe Pike

From Bouchercon 2010 in SF.

I got to ask the obvious question of Lee Child in front of 1400 of his dearest friends: "Ok, one fight and one fight only: Jack Reacher vs. Joe Pike. Who wins?"

Lee weighs in with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DwALEXT3iU&feature=related

(They edited me out. Oh, well, so much for my 15 minutes.)

For those who don't know Joe Pike (obviously if you're reading this thread, you know Reacher), Pike is a character in Robert Crais's mysteries--side kick in most, but main character in three so far, of Reacher-esque talents and abilities. Pike and Elvis Cole are the West Coast equivalents of Hawk and Spenser.

I tend to think Reacher would take him, barely, but the battle would probably upset plate tectonics for the next few million years...

[jobycom]

28. Clete Purcell could take 'em both at once and not even sober up to do it.

:rofl: Of course, Dave Robicheaux would be there to describe the fight in gory, introspective metaphor.

[DUgosh]

25. Just started the Killing Floor

Thanks for the recommendation DU WallDUde, how did I miss this one? Half way through, I"m looking forward to the rest of the series.

[RayOfHope]

26. Me too! I'm about 1/3 of the way through it. I had trouble finding it--

did you? Tried to find it at several local bookstores (Barnes and Noble and Borders included) and ended up having to order it.

[DUgosh]

27. Killing Floor

I downloaded from a public library site and put it in an ipod. The reader is Dick Hill, he is excellent.